The Scorpion King

"Warrior. Legend. King."

2002 1h 32m EN

😐

5.6

MID

★5.6TMDB · 3,477

ActionAdventureFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In ancient Egypt, peasant Mathayus is hired to exact revenge on the powerful Memnon and the sorceress Cassandra, who are ready to overtake Balthazar's village. Amid betrayals, thieves, abductions and more, Mathayus strives to bring justice to his complicated world.

“Warrior. Legend. King.”

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Cast

Dwayne Johnson
Mathayus / The Scorpion King
Steven Brand
Memnon
Michael Clarke Duncan
Balthazar
Kelly Hu
Cassandra
Bernard Hill
Philos
Grant Heslov
Arpid
Peter Facinelli
Takmet
Ralf Moeller
Thorak

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Chuck Russell
Writers: Stephen Sommers, William Osborne, David Hayter
Languages: English, German, Italian, Thai
Countries: United States of America, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Mid-budget at $60M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 24 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, German, Italian, Thai.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Scorpion King Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

351+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Chuck Russell, shot by John R. Leonetti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Debney. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Chuck Russell directs. John R. Leonetti behind the camera. John Debney scores. Greg Parsons cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America, Germany. Dialogue in English, German, Italian, Thai.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Mid-budget at $60M — the now-extinct middle tier of Hollywood.
2Released 24 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 4 languages: English, German, Italian, Thai.
4International production across 2 countries: United States of America, Germany.
5Part of the "The Scorpion King Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6351+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
7Directed by Chuck Russell, shot by John R. Leonetti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by John Debney. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Greg Parsons shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Dwayne Johnson and Steven Brand and Michael Clarke Duncan carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "Warrior. Legend. King.".
12IMDB entry: tt0277296 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
13Classified under 16 themes, including "egypt", "temple", "magic", "sword fight".

The technical file

Cinematography: John R. Leonetti
Original score: John Debney
Editing: Greg Parsons
Production design: Ed Verreaux
Costume design: John Bloomfield
Makeup / hair: Peter Tothpal
VFX supervisor: Rodney Iwashina
Sound: Paul N.J. Ottosson
Stunt coordinator: Bob Brown
Runtime: 92 min · 1h 32m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $60,000,000
Box office: $165,333,180
Return: 276% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Scorpion King (2002)

Part of

The Scorpion King Collection

The Scorpion King collection is a spin-off to The Mummy Returns and follows the story of Mathayus and his rise to become the Scorpion King. The franchise began with the 2002 film The Scorpion King, directed by Chuck Russell and starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov, and Michael Clarke Duncan.

Also by

Chuck Russell

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2017-06-27
★ 4/10
When The Scorpion King first came out in '02, it would be hard to imagine that between this franchise and its forebears (The Mummy & The Mummy Returns), that it would be The Scorpion King who would continue to live on in the following decade. Though that's maybe less shocking knowing that Tomb of the Dragon Emperor happened. Scorpion King delivers on a small amount of the hammy fun it could have been, though I can't help but wonder just how amazing it would be if we had gotten a Fast & Furious level Rock portraying Mathayas. Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.
CinemaSerf2023-09-03
★ 5/10
Spawned from the "Mummy Returns" this rather stolid and lurching drama tells the tale of “Mathayus” (Dwayne Johnson) an “Akkadian” - an ancient sort of Mesopotamian - who tries to overthrow the tyrant king “Memnon” (Steven Brand) who reigns with the aid of sorceress who can predict the future (Kelly Hu doing her best Jane Seymour impression). This is as formulaic as I've seen in this genre and leaves little for the imagination. It has humour, on occasion, but is anything but subtle. It's all just an action vehicle for the star that does look good but has little else to recommend it to anyone.
r96sk2025-02-18
★ 7/10
<em>'The Scorpion King'</em> isn't one to take seriously, but based on sheer entertainment factor I did suitably enjoy this. It was, at least for yours truly, a fairly breezy 90 minutes, they did a solid job at keeping the action paced well across that run time. The casting is good too. Dwayne Johnson isn't the best actor here in terms of how he says his lines and all that (his acting has improved since), but I'd say he makes up for that by fulfilling the physicality requirements. Michael Clarke Duncan, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov and Bernard Hill are ones I liked seeing too. Steven Brand is the only actor that I wasn't sold on whilst watching. I do think his Memnon character is just about passable, but at the same time I'd consider him as the weakest link. Elsewhere, the special effects seemed minimally used (at least compared to the originals) - that's a plus. It always fascinates me when I find out about these sorta franchises, simply because it is somewhat difficult to believe that they could produce five releases and have none of them enter my knowledge - until now, of course. I am interested in checking them out though, no question.